In the New Forest, an agister (/ˈadʒɪstə/) is a local official whose role is to assist the verderers with their duty to manage the free-roaming animals that the New Forest commoners are allowed to release onto the forest.[1] Several thousand semi-wild ponies run free, along with several thousand cattle and smaller numbers of donkeys, sheep and (in autumn) pigs.[2] These are owned by the commoners who pay an annual grazing fee known as the ‘marking fee’.[1] There are currently five New Forest agisters employed by the Court of Verderers, each with responsibility for a specific forest area.[1]
The post of agister is medieval in origin, the name deriving from the word ‘agist’ meaning 'to take in to graze for payment'.[1] Originally agisters were known as ‘marksmen’, from their role in collecting the marking fees – a role which they still have today.[1]
Agisters spend much of their time out on the forest, often on horseback, checking the condition of the land and of the commoners’ ponies and other stock.[1] They are on call 24 hours a day to deal with problems such as stuck, straying or injured animals.[1] They also watch out for breaches of the verderers’ bylaws and for the presence on the forest of unauthorised animals.[1][3]
Each year between mid August and early November the agisters organise regular ‘pony drifts’, in which the commoners gather in their ponies for an annual welfare check. Rounded-up ponies are recorded and checked by the agisters against the marking fees paid by their owners.[4] Any pony that the owner wishes to sell or to take in for the winter can be removed from the forest at this point.[4] The remaining ponies have their tails clipped in a distinctive manner to identify those normally living in a particular agister’s area, and they are turned back out for another twelve months.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Verderers of the New Forest: who are they? what do they do? (Pamphlet). The Verderers of the New Forest. nd.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ Stock of the New Forest: who owns them? why are they there? (Pamphlet). The Verderers of the New Forest. nd.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ "Verderers' Court". Verderers of the New Forest. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
- ^ a b c Pony Drifts in the New Forest: what are they? what happens? (Pamphlet). The Verderers of the New Forest. nd.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)